In a bid to strengthen his Democratic base and galvanise more voters, President Joe Biden has promised to improve the lot of the Black community, a core part of his electoral bloc, suggesting that Vice-President Kamala Harris could take over from him.

Mr Biden suggested that Ms Harris could be the U.S. first multiracial female president, but the president did not state if he planned to step down for her in the forthcoming election.

“Because of you, I’m president, and Kamala Harris is vice-president. By the way, she’s not only a great vice-president, she could be president of the United States,” Mr Biden said on Tuesday at the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People’s annual convention in Las Vegas.

The U.S. president added, “I love this phrase, ‘black jobs’. It tells us a lot about the man and his character,” Mr Biden said, referring to former President Donald Trump’s emphasis on ‘black jobs’ as a campaign issue. 

Mr Biden reflected on Barack Obama’s historic presidency as the first Black president of the United States. The president highlighted his own achievement of nominating the first Black woman to the Supreme Court. 

“Folks, I know what a Black job is. It’s the vice-president of the United States. I know what a Black job is: the first Black president in American history is Barack Obama,” Mr Biden asserted. 

Mr Biden’s comments came amid a growing call for him to step down as the Democratic presidential nominee over concern for his mental acuity.